TAIPING: Commuters in rural areas here will have to wait longer for their ride from tomorrow when the Red and Yellow Omnibus cuts its fleet of buses by half.

The move will include stopping its services for heavily populated areas such as Pokok Assam, Lubuk Merbau and its Taiping-Grik express bus route.

Company supervisor Dennis Chuah said it was facing problems trying to renew its operating permit, which also meant that it could not renew its buses’ road tax on time.

“Of our 32 buses, 16 will be without road tax on Tuesday, and the rest by the end of the year,” he told reporters on Saturday.

However, Chuah said it could only provide 12 buses to serve the public because four had to be placed on standby in case of breakdowns.

He said the company had submitted its application to renew its permit to the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board early last month, whose role had been taken over by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

“We have been told to hang on until the matter is sorted out between the board and SPAD but we can’t operate without renewing our permit and road tax.”

Currently, the company, which has been in operation since 1938, serves the route between Taiping and Kuala Kangsar, Kuala Kangsar and Lenggong, Lenggong and Grik besides Pokok Assam and Lubuk Merbau.

From tomorrow, the number of buses will be cut from eight and seven along the Taiping-Kuala Kangsar and Kuala Kangsar-Lenggong routes to four each, and from four along the Lenggong-Grik route to two.

There will only be one bus for both the Changkat Jering and Parit Mentri routes.